AWE Tuning Front Mount Intercooler | B6 Audi A4 1.8T

It's been a long time coming, but we are pleased to release our Front Mount Intercooler (FMIC) for the B6 A4 1.8T.

Kit highlights:

All aluminum construction, including tubing, for maximum heat transfer

Thick cast end tanks for maximum heat transfer

Dyno tested end tank geometry for optimum flow

No cutting or modification of front bumper support

4 ply silicone couplers with stainless steel rolled edge clamps

The need for a higher capacity intercooler became evident during development of our 290hp GT28R turbo kit for this car, and over the past many months we have been perfecting and testing our design.

We first tried a few different versions of a vertical flow design (where the intake boost flows in a vertical direction through the core instead of horizontally through it). The philosophy behind a vertical flow core is to maximize the cooling area exposed across the face of the core while minimizing the actual run that the air has to do through the core. The longer the run, the higher the "pressure drop" or restriction that is produced by the core. Restriction is obviously not good for power. After fitting a few different core sizes on our test car, we were able to record significant improvements in intake temperature with low pressure drop. However, once we tested our first horizontal flow numbers, we were blown away at how much better the horizontal flow worked on this car.

Our horizontal flow design not only showed superior temperature drops vs stock and our vertical flow tests, but it also showed a much better ability to recover after a full throttle pull on the street and dyno. If an intercooler cannot get rid of the heat in its system fast enough, the heat will build up in what is commonly referred to as "heatsoak". On all the vertical flow designs, we saw a consistent rise in intake temps after each full throttle pull if we did not give several minutes of cooldown between runs. On our horizontal design, we were able to do back to back pulls on the dyno and street with no continual heat buildup in the system, even at 20+ psi of boost to redline.

Besides the obvious advantage of using a horizontal flow intercooler, we have also taken the time to manufacture aluminum tubing for the kit. Almost all other kits on the market use steel tubing, which is easier to bend, but does not have the superior heat transfer characteristic of aluminum. Using aluminum for our tubing maximizes the area where heat is able to be wicked away from the intake air going to the engine as aluminum transfers heat much better than steel. We also spent time maximizing the flow of the endtanks, using a gradual taper from the inlet and outlet instead of the abrupt right angles that some competitor designs use. In testing, our design showed a ~15 wheel horsepower gain vs stock and a 10 wheel horsepower gain over simply changing from a competitor front mount intercooler to ours, with no other changes. Our design also fits perfectly behind the front bumper support, ensuring proper crash safety in the event of an accident.

It may have taken a while for us to release this product, but rest assured its performance and fitment cannot be beat.

Please note that the vehicle pictured has modified corner bumper grilles to show off the tubing on this system, but the grilles do not have to be cut open for fitment.